Cynewulf' in the Encyclopedia of British Medieval Literature Author(S) Birkett, Thomas Editor(S) Echard, Siân Rouse, Robert

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Title 'Cynewulf' in The Encyclopedia of British Medieval Literature Author(s) Birkett, Thomas Editor(s) Echard, Siân Rouse, Robert

Publication date 2017-08 Original citation Birkett, T. (2017) 'Cynewulf', in Echard, S. and Rouse, R. (eds.) The Encyclopedia of British Medieval Literature, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. isbn: 978-1-118-39698-8

Type of publication Book chapter

Link to publisher's http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781118396957 version Access to the full text of the published version may require a subscription.

Item downloaded http://hdl.handle.net/10468/5090 from Downloaded on 2021-09-28T16:31:42Z Cynewulf evidence from genealogies and coin legends indicatesthatthenamewouldhavebeenrep- TOM BIRKETT resented as Cyniwulf before the mid-eighth University College Cork, Ireland century in Mercia. In two more recent surveys of the evidence, Fulk (1996) confirms most Unlike other named poets of vernacular of Sisam’s observations (though proposing a versesuchastheVenerableBede,weknow somewhat later terminus post quem), whilst about Cynewulf only through the internal Conner (1996) suggests a date even closer to evidence of the four Old English poems that the tenth-century copying of the manuscripts, bear his name. Two of these – Christ II (The basedinpartontheidentificationofasource Ascension)andJuliana –arepreservedin for Fates. Much ink has been spilled trying to the Exeter Book miscellany, whilst The Fates link the individual behind the runic signature of the Apostles and Elene are found amongst conceit with one or other historical figure, thedevotionalpoemsandprosehomiliesof though biographical studies are now increas- the Vercelli Book. Each of these four poems ingly rare. Although the intimate appeal that includes a colophon in which the poet draws is made to the poet’s own penitential state out the spiritual message of the preceding in several of the colophons is striking, it is text and embeds the name Cyn(e)wulf in the also a conventional pious trope, telling us poetic line using Anglo-Saxon runes. In two nothing concrete about the persona behind of the colophons the name is spelled as Cyn- the common name Cynewulf. wulf (without medial -e-), though there is no All four signature conceits make use of the reason to believe that these common spelling runic script, and exploit the fact that runes variants point to different poet-personas. had both a phonetic value (as ordinary alpha- Establishing the date and provenance betic characters) and also a conventional of the poems has been a preoccupation of proper name. By transposing the individual Cynewulf scholarship since the discovery of letters of the name C-y-n-e-w-u-l-f into runic the signatures. The writing of the Vercelli logograms that stood for these conventional and Exeter Books provides a secure terminus names, the Cynewulf poet was able to weave ante quem inthelatetenthcentury.Unsur- the name into the verse, whilst ensuring that prisingly, the poems are all copied in the thesequencestoodoutonthemanuscript dominant late West Saxon dialect, but there page. To a certain extent, the conventional are several features indicative of Anglian names directed the content of the colophons. origins, including several half rhymes that For example, the final letter in the name is areresolvedintofullrhymeswhenthetypical feoh, meaning “wealth,” and thus the poet Anglian smoothing of vowels is applied. This was obliged to incorporate this word into at would suggest that the poems were originally least three of the four colophons. The chal- composed in Mercia or Northumbria, the lenge of including the u-rune (named ur,or balance of dialect evidence seeming to favor “aurochs,” in the Rune Poem) appears to have a Mercian provenance (Fulk 1996). Sisam been too much of an ask even for this inven- (1953) suggests that the form of the name tive poet, and it is generally accepted that the mayitselfprovidesomeclarityondating: personal pronoun ure is intended instead in

The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, Edited by Siân Echard and Robert Rouse. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb372 2 CYNEWULF three of the four colophons. Working within of the Junius manuscript (the so-called these restrictions, the poet created a unique “Cædmonian” group), the Cynewulf poet riddle on each occasion, linked by a focus on takesashissubjectmatterarangeofpopular JudgmentDay,butalsorespondingartfullyto extra-biblical homiletic and hagiographical the themes of the preceding poems (Warwick narratives linked to the church calendar Frese 1975). Whilst the signature passages (Sisam 1953), dealing with the Ascension of themselves are inventive in their conceit of Christ, the Martyrdom of the Apostles, the using runes to embed a personal name within Passion of St. Juliana, and the inventio crucis Old English verse, the ideas and motifs con- legend. With the exception of Christ II,all tained in these colophons are “quite familiar the poems are martyrological in character: from other Old English poems” (Shippey dealing with sanctified individuals engaged 1972, 157). in the Christian mission and contending The embedded runic conceit has been with pagan antagonists. It is noteworthy remarkably effective in transmitting the that two of the four works deal with female name along with the poems, and maintaining protagonists – St. Juliana in the typical virgin the order of the signature passage. However, martyr pose, protecting her purity in the face it has been suggested that the Cynewulf poet of outlandishly violent coercion, and Elene was not motivated by modern conceptions of as a powerful leader of men and the agent of authorial copyright, but rather by a desire to thediscoveryofthetruecross.Therangeof be accounted for his works of devotion and to subjects chosen is perhaps indicative of the inspire the same spiritual revelation in others, Cynewulf poet’s concern for eschatological an appeal for the reader’s prayers that Sisam inclusivity, with each of the colophons mak- remindsusisconventionalinLatinletters ingauniversalappealtoallhumankindto (1953). It is also worth remembering that the earnestly contemplate the end of days. message of the colophons – essentially that Christ II is the second of the three sequen- all earthly presence is ephemeral – stands tial Christ poems copied in the Exeter Book, and though there are merits in reading the in direct contrast to the idea of proprieto- poemsasatriptych,thesecondpoemis rial authorship (Stodnick 1997). Indeed, the distinct in aspects of its style, and is the colophons may deliberately serve to lead the only one now attributed to Cynewulf (see reader away from surface display and toward Fulk 1996). It is also notably different in engaged contemplation (Birkett 2014). In this subjectmattertothethreeothersigned understanding of the poems, the concept of a poems, taking as its primary source Gre- “signature” is something of a misnomer – it gory the Great’s twenty-ninth homily on the is a device intended to inculcate revelation Gospels. The Cynewulf poet’s rendition of rather than to elevate the author. As Calder the Ascension narrative is influenced by the points out, our lack of knowledge about narrative structure of the source, and also the personality of this poet “facilitates crit- by Gregory’s discursive exegetical technique, ical examination of the poems he wrote” in which diverse events from sacred history (1981, 17). are connected at an allegorical level (Shippey 1972). The first half of the poem follows its THE POEMS source in interweaving allusions to scriptural history and apocrypha in its description of Rather than dealing with the Old Testa- the Ascension, whilst the latter half is ded- ment themes represented in the poems icated to a meditation on the eschatological CYNEWULF 3 significance of this pivotal event, the role of (according to [their] deeds) (l. 728) and how the church in continuing Christ’s ministry the martyr can both inspire and directly and the model that Christ’s “leaps” provide intercede for the individual. The colophon for the individual seeking salvation. The puts this model of saintly intercession into poet is skillful in adapting his style to the practice,addressingtheaudienceinthefirst narrative and homiletic sections of the poem person with an appeal to pray for Cynewulf’s (Calder 1981); however, the colophon is the soul, apparently imperiled by the evil deeds Cynewulf poet’s most significant addition to of the author. However, the fact that the his source, serving as an autobiographical author projects himself to address the reader space in which the poet’s persona is used to from beyond the grave makes it clear that engage directly with the reader. We are told this is a rhetorical construction. It is gen- how Cynewulf anguishes over his former erally accepted that the grouped runes cyn transgressions – though with no insight into and ewu herestandforthecollectivenouns what these might be – and that he expects cyn (race [of men]) and ewu (ewes/sheep?), a harsh judgment: demonstrating, in other whilst the final lf perhaps represents leof words, the proper penitential attitude (Rice (beloved) with medial vowels added (Birkett 1977). The act of solving the runic riddle 2014). Sisam offers the alternative suggestion models the call at the opening of the poem that each group may stand for the full name “to seek for spiritual mysteries with the “Cynewulf” (1953). In fact, in true riddlic skill of the mind” (ll. 440–41), whilst also style, these clusters may stand for both the teaching us to read away from the physical individual and the collective in a sophisti- manifestation of the runic name and toward catedplayonthemessageofauniversalfate the spiritual message the runes reveal: soon to which monna gehwam (each individual) is “the [joy] of earth’s riches will be gone.” (ll. bound, or represent visually the anxiety of the 804–5). In short, the Cynewulf poet balances poet at the soul’s impending dislocation from an emotional evangelism with a carefully the body (Bjork 2013). The fact that the runes fashioned rhetoric designed to implicate his work in a different way to the other signature vernacular audience in their own journey of riddles has led some critics to suggest that it salvation. may represent the first of the Cynewulf poems Juliana has often been derided as an unin- (see Elliott 1953), and others the product of spired verse rendition of an uninspiring Latin the poet’s declining years (see Woolf 1955). saint’s life. The poet certainly doesn’t enter- The last poem to be identified with tain spiritual mysteries in the same way as in Cynewulf was TheFatesoftheApostles, Christ II and Elene, preferring the straightfor- which follows Andreas in the Vercelli Book. ward polemic of martyrdom and its heavenly Attempts have been made to determine the reward. The poet is not recalcitrant about relationship between Andreas and Fates, adapting the source to serve the polemic, including the idea that Cynewulf deliberately however, and the “distilled version of epic co-opted a poem already in existence by style” chosen for this poem (Calder 1981, attaching his shorter composition (see Puskar 155) may well be apposite for the straight- 2011). Fates constitutes a catalogue of the 12 forward hagiographical narrative. If seen apostles with a brief description of the per- as rather heavy-handed by many modern secution and death of each, and there is still commentators, the poem achieves what it some debate about the exact source used: it sets out to do: demonstrating how a reward may be based on a full account of the apostles isappointedtoeachperson“bigewyrhtum” (Cross 1979), possibly Usuard’s recension 4 CYNEWULF of the martyrology (Conner 1996), or have the beasts of battle motif, to create a dis- been pieced together by the author. Often dis- tinctly Anglo-Saxon rendition of the Inventio missed as a simple verse list, in recent decades crucis narrative. It has been noted that the the poem has found greater favor with critics, poem is structured around “multiple reve- who have pointed out the widespread pop- lations” (Campbell 1972): of the cross and ularityofthecatalogueandshonelighton nails through the agency of Elene and Judas the poet’s rhetorical virtuosity (see Calder Cyriacus, but also of spiritual truths, personal 1981; Anderson 1983). As with Juliana,the revelation in contemplation of the true cross, Cynewulf poet is co-opting a conventional and intellectual enlightenment, including the poetic model and technique of exposition to solving of runic riddle. The poet displays his reach the same salutary conclusion: just as virtuosity in an autobiographical sequence in the apostles distained “idele æht-welan” (idle which he describes the revelation provided wealth,l.84),sothecolophoncallsonusto to him through poetic craft – doing so using recognize the transitory nature of the world. an elaborate series of rhyming half-lines. The In this colophon the poet explicitly frames information that he labored in his art during the riddle, telling the reader that the wise-one the confines of night, and that he is writing in might discover “hwa tas fitte fegde” (who old age was pounced upon by early critics, but composed this song, l. 98) and ending the pas- it has been noted that the old age persona is sagewitharecapitulationandacalltoprayfor a conventional conceit (see Woolf 1955), and his soul. We may be dealing here with the first also that the colophon echoes the language ofthecolophons,andapoetnotentirelycon- used to describe the conversion of Constan- fident that his conceit would be understood. tineandJudasearlierinthepoem(Warwick However,themessageofdistainforworldly Frese 1975). As well as acting as the culmi- ornamentation encoded by the runic riddle nation of the Cynewulf poet’s evangelizing suggests that the poet is playfully undermin- message,thecolophonisdeeplyintegrated ing his own signature conceit. The breaking into the series of disclosures made through- up of the name mirrors an earthly disloca- out the poem, using the signature as a model tion; feoh (or wealth) stands at the end (both for meditative reading. Earthly presence is a figuratively, and as the last letter of the name); confine which only spiritual understanding and the reader is encouraged to recognize that can unlock, and whilst the Cynewulf poet memorializing verse (whether of apostle or guides the reader through a succession of poet) has its primary value in its application physical and spiritual paradigms for rev- to the individual’s spiritual condition. elation, it is the individual’s responsibility Elene is often regarded as the Cynewulf to contemplate the cross and uncover the poet’s most accomplished work, both in terms anagogical meaning of the inventio narrative. of its intellectual ambition, and its success in adapting the narrative using the conventions of Old English poetry. The poet’s source STYLE AND LEGACY closely resembles the Latin Acta Cyriaci,and the narrative concerns St. Helena’s journey to The question of Cynewulf’s unique style has Jerusalem to discover the true cross. Helena, often been considered hand in hand with an the mother of Emperor Constantine, is recast attempt to define (and expand) the canon in the poem as a martial queen, and the poet of Cynewulfian poetry. Much in the poet’s merges an imperial setting with such typical style is typical to most surviving Old English Old English tropes as seafaring imagery and poetry, though there are some features that CYNEWULF 5 have been singled out as more or less distinc- applicable “æghwam … under lyfte” (to tive. These range from the formal, such as every person under the sky). a tendency toward complex sentences with multiple subordinate clauses (see Shippey SEE ALSO: Anglo-Saxon Riddles; Christ I, II, & III; Elene;ExeterBook;Runes;VercelliBook 1972), to the influence of Latin models on lexis, syntax, and aesthetics (Sisam 1953) and his skill in interpreting the intellectual virtues REFERENCES of these sources within the expressive con- Anderson, Earl R. 1983. Cynewulf: Structure, Style ventions of Old English verse. In terms of the and Theme in His Poetry. London: Associated thematic unity of the four poems, Anderson University Presses. recognizes “penitentialism, sapientialism, Birkett, Tom. 2014. “Runes and Revelatio: and compunction” as guiding preoccupa- Cynewulf’s Signatures Reconsidered.” Review of tions, along with a sustained interest in the English Studies 65 (272): 771–89. “continuing apostolic mission” (1983, 179), Bjork, Robert E., ed. 2013. The Old English Poems of Cynewulf . Cambridge, MA: Dumbarton Oaks. whilst Calder draws attention to the poet’s Calder, Daniel G. 1981. Cynewulf .Boston: stylistic self-consciousness and “devotion Twayne. to the perfecting of the surface” (Calder Campbell, Jackson J. 1972. “Cynewulf’s Multi- 1981, 166). Few unsigned poems are now ple Revelations.” Medievalia et humanistica 3: attributed to Cynewulf, though Guthlac B 257–77. is sometimes included in the canon due to Conner, Patrick W. 1996. “On Dating Cynewulf.” stylistic similarities (see Bjork 2013), a case In Cynewulf: Basic Readings, edited by Robert E. Bjork, 23–56. New York: Garland. made stronger by the fact that the ending Cross, J.E. 1979. “Cynewulf’s Traditions about (and a potential colophon) is missing from the Apostles in The Fates of the Apostles.” this poem. Anglo-Saxon England 8: 163–75. If there is little that can (or should) be said Elliott, Ralph W.V. 1953. “Cynewulf’s Runes in about the individual who appended the name Juliana and The Fates of the Apostles.” English Cynewulf to these four poems, it is clear that Studies 34: 193–205. Fulk, R.D. 1996. “Cynewulf: Canon, Dialect and the poet was extremely well versed in the Date.” In Cynewulf: Basic Readings, edited by literary cultures of his day, both Latin and Robert E. Bjork, 3–22. New York: Garland. vernacular, and that he was earnest in his Puskar, Jason R. 2011. “‘Hwa Þas Fitte Fegde?’ evangelizing ministry, attempting to move Questioning Cynewulf’s Claim of Authorship.” the reader toward engaged contemplation English Studies 92: 1–19. of Christian themes through exacting atten- Rice, Robert C. 1977. “The Penitential Motif in tion to the construction of his verse. The Cynewulf’s Fates of the Apostles andinHisEpi- logues.” Anglo-Saxon England 6: 105–20. mostingeniousfeaturesofthefourpoems Shippey, T.A. 1972. Old English Verse. London: are the riddlic colophons that encode the Hutchinson University Library. name Cynewulf – and they have ensured Sisam, Kenneth. 1953. Studies in the History of Old a continued interest in this modest canon English Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press. of an otherwise unknown individual. This Stodnick, Jacqueline A. 1997. “Cynewulf as is perhaps itself a measure of the success Author: Medieval Reality or Modern Myth?” Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of ofapoetwhoseaimwasnotsomuchto Manchester 79: 25–39. be remembered for his artistic genius, as to Warwick Frese, Dolores. 1975. “The Art of ensure each reader paused to contemplate Cynewulf’sRunicSignatures.”InAnglo-Saxon a message of salvation that he believed was Poetry: Essays in Appreciation,editedbyDolores 6 CYNEWULF

Warwick Frese and Lewis E. Nicholson, 312–34. FURTHER READING London: University of Notre Dame Press. Woolf, Rosemary, ed. 1955. Juliana. London: Page, R.I. 1999. An Introduction to English Runes, Methuen. 2nd ed. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.